Whew! Rest easy, fans of The Amazing Race. The Great White North’s instalment of the fast-paced reality series sports all the hallmarks that’s made the show such a hit: stunning scenery, confounding challenges and compelling contestants, some with inspiring backstories that will bring viewers to tears and others whose inability to follow simple instructions will cost them, big time.

On the premiere of The Amazing Race Canada, we meet the nine teams as they assemble at the start line in Niagara Falls, Ont. Host Jon Montgomery informs them that they’ll be covering 23,000 kilometres over 10 legs of the race as they chase the top prize of $250,000, a pair of Corvette Stingrays and two tickets good for a year’s travel on Air Canada.

Plus, there will be two Express Passes awarded to the team across the finish line on the first leg. The prize, which allows the holder to bypass a challenge, has an expiry date, though: the winners must use theirs by Leg 7, and they must award the second pass by the end of the third leg.

With that, they’re off! The teams race to rip open those yellow envelopes for the first clue, which tells them to drive to the nearby Niagara Butterfly Conservatory. Once there, they have to find one of nine terrariums sprinkled throughout the building. Here’s the hitch: the terrariums contain animals, some more “dangerous” than others.

Tennille and Treena didn’t pay attention to the fine print on their clue that instructed them to remove both yellow envelopes from the terrarium at the butterfly conservatory.

The more “dangerous” the animal is, the greater the chance of snagging seats on an earlier of two flights to the next location. And — and this should read AND, since it’s so important — the teams need to remove both of the clues from inside their chosen terrarium. Not everyone is a believer in following directions, however, as two teams failed to take both of their clues.

Facing down certain doom (ha!) lands married couple Holly and Brett on the early flight to Kelowna, along with Kristen and Darren, Hal and Joanne (yes, Team Body Break figured out how to open that tricky car door) and Vanessa and Celina.

And we get some actual gameplay once the four teams in the lead overnight on a houseboat in Kelowna: Dr. Brett proposes that if one of the four teams wins the Express Pass, they will give the second get-out-of-jail-free card to the next team in the alliance to cross the finish line. Everyone is in.

The day’s challenge involves each team piloting a Sea-doo out to a platform on Lake Okanagan. One person then has to don a diving helmet and be lowered beneath the lake’s surface to remove a clue attached to a statue of the legendary monster that lurks underwater.

Cory gives his brother Jody a piggyback to the dock during one of the challenges on the first episode of The Amazing Race Canada.

The big takeaway on this challenge is how awesome Jody and Cory are. Cory matter-of-factly piggybacks his brother to dockside, as Jody lost both his legs below the knee while serving his country in Afghanistan. Sisters Treena and Tennille act as surrogates for viewers, tearing up at the brothers’ commitment to the race and each other.

Then, it’s on to the final challenge: the team member who didn’t do the diving challenge has to shuffle out on a 12-inch wide platform that teeters from the side of a trestle bridge. At the end of the platform is a clue that they have to lie down to access. Clue in hand, they must jump off the narrow projectile and be lowered to the ground far below. Lots of people freak out, no one dies, moving on. (Joanne, though, should get bonus points for delivering the Body Break signoff “Keep fit and have fun” before hurling herself into the air.)

Teams then drive to Quails’ Gate Winery where Jon Montgomery waits at the mat. At the finish line, it’s Kristen and Darren for the win, which includes two tickets to Australia as well as those Express Passes. They’re narrowly followed by Holly and Brett, with Hal and Joanne and Jet and Dave rounding out the top four.

And remember those persnickety instructions at the conservatory? Tim Sr. and Jr. incur a 30-minute penalty for failing to remove both clues from the terrariums, which allows Vanessa and Celina to edge into fifth spot from sixth. And a similar fate is suffered by the sister act of Treena and Tennille. Although they edge out gay cowboys Jamie and Pierre at the finish line, their failure to follow the fine print costs them their berth in the race.

Pierre and Jamie give farewell hugs to Tennille and Treena on The Amazing Race Canada.

Next week, the competitors head to Vancouver, where a trip to Chinatown leaves some teams “lost in translation.”

So, what did you think of the first episode of The Amazing Race Canada? Did it live up to your expectations? (I know I appreciated that it’s TV I can watch with my kids, aged nine and seven.) Will the alliance of the four frontrunning teams hold? And how awesome was it when Joanne couldn’t figure out how to open the door on the car? (Not as awesome as when Tim Jr. said his dad, who has Parkinson’s, is his hero as Tim Sr. inched his way out on that platform on the trestle bridge.) Share your thoughts below, and I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of The Amazing Race Canada.

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